DRUG MEETING DISCUSSED PROBLEMS, SOLUTIONS

An emotional day-long meeting on the drug trade on Okanagan Nation
Territory saw honest reflections and offered suggestions for change, said
one observer.

School District No. 67 trustee Linda Van Alphen was one of about 300 people
who attended the meeting at the Senisyusten Gymnasium in Westbank Dec. 21.

Attendees heard from school and community representatives, band chiefs and
the RCMP on the drug trade on band territory, she said. The fact so many
concerned people were willing to come together to discuss the problem was
very encouraging, she said.

"I was very glad I could attend the meeting," she said. "We felt at a board
level that we wanted to express our concern over what was happening in the
Penticton Indian Band community and all the community."

Van Alphen, who sits on the district's First Nations advisory committee,
said at the meeting that the district shares the Okanagan Nation Alliance's
concern with drug dealing, bootlegging and substance abuse, its grief at
the loss of life and commitment to finding solutions.

She highlighted existing district strategies, including cooperation with
the RCMP, prosecutors and crime prevention to strengthen the Drug Free Zone
in the district.

Increased performance at school results in marked reduction in the
incidence of drug abuse, she said.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance called the meeting, but speakers at the
conference emphasized the drug problem was a shared one, said Van Alphen.

"Most of the people that spoke during the day weren't specifically
separating it out between aboriginal and non-aboriginal youth," she said.
"They were saying 'our children are in trouble and something has to be done'."

Many of the chiefs share the feeling that alcohol and drugs were destroying
the future of their communities, she said.

A presentation by Jeanette Armstrong from the En'Owkin Centre highlighted
how culture is treatment for aboriginal people.

Armstrong promoted a year-long treatment program to help band members
addicted to drugs or alcohol and asked each band to fund five places in it,
said Van Alphen.

The day also featured break-out groups in which members discussed the
situation on band lands now, she said. Among the points raised were:

* most people living on band lands know who is dealing and when
confrontations may occur;

* widespread drug and alcohol abuse is not new and not restricted to
aboriginal people;

* drug dealers are known, are band members and are often related;

* there is a culture of secrets to protect family members;

* much of the violence is a direct result of turf wars or addictions to
crystal meth or crack cocaine;

* threats have been issued against individuals, including chiefs, who have
attempted to find solutions;

* aboriginal students are not achieving in school at the same rates as
non-aboriginal students, which affects their self-esteem;

* families are being torn apart and terrorized by fellow band members.

The breakout groups also discussed solutions, said Van Alphen. These included:

* education as a key to knowledge and power;

* expansion of cultural educational opportunities for all students of
aboriginal ancestry in school district through aboriginal enhancement
agreements;

* increasing knowledge and understanding for all aboriginal people of self,
spirit, land and community;

* developing of policing - either RCMP or band police - that is
well-trained and well-funded;

* an inventory of services and resources presently available to each band;

* prevention through education and modeling;

* considering short term and long term initiatives and how they are to be
funded.

Attendees agreed they wanted to see dramatic change in the situation over
the next five years, she said.